Tea Party Works On Warrant Article

On November 30, the Nottingham Tea Party held a planning session to determine the steps necessary to educate the public about the proposed warrant article concerning local control of resources, get the warrant passed, and monitor its enforcement.  The warrant is an outgrowth of member’s feelings of exasperation at being unable to stop USA Springs from taking millions of gallons of water from the aquifer.

The first efforts by the group have met with overwhelming success.  Close to 160 residents have signed the petition to get the warrant on the ballot, well more than the 25 needed.  And, the group has passed the first step required by the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund to submit a grant proposal to cover the cost of mailings and additional materials.  Meanwhile, the Tea Party’s educational pamphlet “It’s Not Too Late” is ready for distribution and will be available at town events and strategic locations throughout the community.

Much of the meeting was spent on a strategic planning campaign to prepare, develop, and deliver the message about the importance of passing the warrant.  Three teams with different but overlapping tasks were established.  A Communications team will develop press releases and education kits and provide materials for mailings.  This will be an ongoing process through the March 15 vote. A Message Distribution team will submit information for publication, drop off materials at town sites, prepare mailings and go door-to-door in neighborhoods.  The third team will seek out local businesses and town sites where material could be placed, and will see that the information is kept available and up to date. Team chairs are Gail Powell, Jack Caldon and Sara Evans.

With multiple election opportunities between now and the town meeting, the teams expect to remain busy and would appreciate the help of any Nottingham resident who wished to get involved.  The next meeting of the Tea Party will be on December 19 at 7:00 pm in the conference room.  For further information, or to get involved, contact Chris or Gail Mills at cgmills_7@comcast.net.

Well-known documentary film maker, Tom Jackson, of joepublicfilms.com, will be following the Tea Party’s efforts. Joe Public Films is an independent video and film making resource that is committed to exposing under-reported human rights-related news stories from around the world, at any and every available level of media, from grassroots screenings to broadcast television.